Devices such as set top boxes, modulators, etc, have ports to accept various types of digital streams. Examples of digital streams are MPEG2 transport stream, MPEG4 transport stream, MPEG7 transport stream, digital television transport stream, and high definition television transport stream. To process the digital stream the device coupled to the transport medium must comply with required, electrical characteristics and the transport stream protocol. Currently an individual module for each type of input stream must be specifically constructed and configured to meet the electrical and protocol characteristics for the type of digital stream being received.
The present invention provides an interface unit that can be configured to receive or transmit a plurality of types of digital bit stream. An optional object of the invention is to receive and/or transmit a digital bit stream according to the electrical characteristics of a digital stream receiver/transmitter and the bit stream protocols of a plurality of digital stream types.